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Diuretics Suspected in Death of Brazilian Fighter Leandro Souza

The aunt of deceased fighter Leandro Souza says he was taking Lasix in the hours before his death by stroke while cutting weight for Shooto Brazil 43.

We posted previously on Leandro "Feijao" Souza, the 26-year-old Brazilian fighter who died from a stroke hours before weighing in for his Shooto Brazil 43 bout. Now MMA Fighting's Guilherme Cruz has more:

...the fighter's aunt, Elma Caetano, revealed he used Lasix, a diuretic pill, to help him make weight for the flyweight bout against Gabriel Brasil (1-1).

"I didn't know he was taking that," Caetano told Extra on Saturday. "Two kids that train with him told me that (he was taking Lasix)."

Several sources told MMAFighting.com that Souza took three diuretic pills on Wednesday and four on Thursday, and he was two pounds over the limit when he passed out inside a sauna. He got the fight on short notice and had to lose 33 pounds in one week.

Bloody Elbow's Eugene Robinson was quick to suspect that Lasix had played a role in Souza's death. This news seems to confirm that suspicion.

Unfortunately Andre Pederneiras, head of Shooto Brazil and leader of Nova Uniao, Souza's training camp, seems more interested in denial than in getting to the bottom of the situation:

"That could have happened to anyone," Pederneiras said. "It unfortunately happened on a day that all the fighters were losing weight. But that has nothing to do with (him cutting weight). We will wait for more exams, but (the doctors) already said that he suffered a stroke."

Sadly Pederneiras' head-in-the-sand attitude is typical of people involved in MMA when it comes to issues of fighter safety.

"Diuretics are terrible, they're the bane of weight cutting," Dolce said. "All drugs. That's why I say no pills, no powders, no potions, get that pollutant out of your body. You don't need that. A fully healthy body can do anything. I've proven that, my athletes have proven that. My athletes are the healthiest on the planet, they look amazing on the scale. ... When you're taking those pills, when you're taking those drugs, diuretics are absolutely the worst thing to do, it corrupts the health of the athlete on a biological level."

Indeed, you'd be hard pressed to name many fighters who have missed weight when they've worked with Dolce. Dolce says his game plan is based on changing fighters' dietary approach throughout the year, rather than simply crash dieting as their fight approaches.

"Weight cutting is not healthy, I'm the first to say that," Dolce said. "If it was up to me athletes would compete at their wake-up weight. That's when you open your eyes, the first thing in the morning, they put their feet on the ground, they use the restroom, and then they step on a scale afterwards. That's the wake-up weight. That's what you should weight."

"My athletes are typically at seven percent body fat three weeks before competition," Dolce continued. "That's what we aim for three weeks before competition. Now we can begin increasing calories as we get closer to the fight so we can eat more. Nobody does that. Everyone goes they opposite way, they pull calories closer to the fight."

Santos had taken a flyweight bout on short notice and reportedly had to drop 33 pounds in a week to make the fight. Santos was reportedly looking to cut the final two pounds in the sauna when he had his stroke.

"Mixed martial artists as a whole are a much healthier group [than the general population], although prone to extremes," said Dolce. Extremes like Mr. Santos, possibly taking diuretics, we don't know that for sure yet, you have to stay healthy, If you can't stay healthy, you're not competing at your best."

Dolce, of course, works mostly with high-level fighters and is paid accordingly by his clients. But he says that a young, up-and-coming fighter doesn't necessarily need his services if they're smart about how they handle their diet and nutrition.

"It's not a diet, it's a lifestyle," Dolce said. "If you're cutting weight the week of competition or three weeks or six week, you already messed up. It's a 52 weeks a year, these athletes, if they're amateurs or professionals, they should think like professionals 365 days a year. Everything they eat, everything they drink, everything they see, every situation they're in. It's either going to make them better or it's going to make them worse. ...

"The young guys out there, you don't have to pay a guy like me," Dolce continued. "I was doing this free for a decade when there was no money back in the NHB days. I was still doing this in 2000, 2001, 2002. I was this guy making no money but I did it the exact same way. Of course the science and the experience has evolved, but the commitment has never changed."